Short-term memory: New data and a model

We review the extensive benchmark data on short-term memory for order, and discuss the prominent computational theories accounting for serial order memory. On the basis of recent diagnostic results, we identify four explanatory constructs that we suggest must be instantiated in a model to provide an adequate account of those data. We present one such model, called C-SOB, and show that it handles existing benchmark data as well as recent diagnostic results. We conclude by exploring some of the model's novel predictions. (c) 2008, Elsevier Inc.